The artful traveler.

Credit-card Conundrum

Overseas Purchases Can Be Trickier Than Time Zones

May 18, 1997|By Betsy Wade, New York Times News Service.

Advice on consumer protection often favors using a credit card for purchases: If things go wrong, conventional wisdom holds, there is an extra layer of protection because the buyer can protest if the goods are not received and ask that the charges be removed. But using a credit card overseas, which is helpful because it provides the bank-to-bank rate of exchange at the time the transaction is processed, also has its hazards, as two readers' experiences show.

Betty Keiser of Bala-Cynwyd, Pa., had the inconvenience and embarrassment of finding her credit card declared invalid while she was shopping in Italy. The security mechanisms established by her MasterCard issuer, Core States Bank of Delaware, caused a cutoff after she made "five or six" modest purchases within a few hours in Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como. She knew she was far from her credit limit but could not get the card validated again and had to adjust the rest of her trip to do without.

Mark Wolters of Hamilton Square, N.J., used his Citibank MasterCard to buy an expensive ring from a jewelry shop in St. Martin. While he was still on the island, in the summer of 1995, a stone fell out. He returned to the shop, which refused to take the ring back. He called Citibank from the jeweler's shop, and the bank told him to put his complaint in writing. When he wrote from home, he received letters from a Citibank office in Sioux Falls, S.D., saying "Because you are disputing a charge which originated in a foreign country, we have no means to assist you with this matter." The second response declared the case closed.

First, the blocking of the card: Visa and MasterCard say the issuing banks adjust their security systems for what constitutes "out of pattern" buying. American Express sets its own system, but all three organizations say the computers are constantly being re-educated about each card holder's patterns, adjusting levels that indicate a card may have been compromised. This means either the card has been stolen or an unauthorized person has learned the numbers and incorporated them into another card's magnetic strip or used them for a telephone purchase. All three companies, for security reasons, are wary of disclosing what triggers a shutdown of a card.

The number of purchases, the timing and the types are factors, said John Newton, vice president for Core States bank card operations. A large number of charges from a casino, say, would be more suspicious than from a department store.

One trigger involves gasoline purchases. "A thief will test a stolen card at a gas station to see if it has been reported stolen," said Susan Forman, senior vice president at Visa. At night he can put a card directly into the pump without being studied closely by the attendant.

Big purchases, especially anything that can be resold quickly, like a computer, on a card not usually used for major undertakings may indicate an unauthorized user. Although American Express does not have a credit ceiling for a card member, Emily Porter, a spokeswoman, said: "Don't charge your whole wedding reception on the card and then try to use the card to take your honeymoon."

Problems arise with cutoff systems because card companies list them as extra benefits, or "enhancements." They are described in the annual flier that updates card benefits. People reading the small type may not grasp that the listed benefit is also a warning that access to credit can be terminated in midpurchase. Keiser, acknowledging that the company did act to protect her credit, certainly was not aware that a cutoff was a possibility.

"Embarrassed, confused and dismayed," she said she tried to call the 800 number for help from the shop in Italy, but language and time barriers made it futile.

Despite embarrassment, attempts should be made to reach the card company or bank. Several security people urged that a hotel concierge be solicited for help, although the 24-hour toll-free numbers for use abroad are supposed to have an English-speaking service. Essential numbers should be taken along. Newton said that he and his wife always inform their bank when they are going overseas so that the security system will not be agitated by a new pattern. For people who travel overseas regularly, this is probably not necessary.

Porter said that when an American Express card is scanned electronically and a problem is indicated, the electronic display asks the merchant to call the buyer to the phone to verify identification. Of course, shops in small towns in Europe do not always have electronic devices; an impression of the card is taken and the signed slip is sent along by mail, so unless the merchant calls to check the credit balance, the surprise may be somewhere down the line.